Need advice enlarging & printing

[Cmcburnett]

I don't know how I got talked into it but one of the attorney's I work with talked me into donating some photos of the Marietta area for a local charity auction for the homeless. The auction will be presented at a gala and the pictures will be displayed and auctioned. I am a TOTAL amateur and really reluctant, so I’m not sure if I’m going to donate photos or not.

Here’s my question: I take photos on auto setting with my D80, the size of the pictures are 12 x 8 and 300 px. There is a local camera shop, Ritz/Wolf Photo, that prints photos at a rather hefty price. I’d have to submit the photos in the next couple of weeks. Maybe I could send them off for print? How big could I enlarge the photo so it won’t look distorted? The auction will have the photos matted and framed and I have no clue what size to print. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Here is one of my photos. I'm going to have to straighten it a bit.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1OY6MFJFgwX1DfwDXhy4AbOEJhYvj0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1OY6MFJFgwX1DfwDXhy4AbOEJhYvj0)

[Juergen D]

How big could I enlarge the photo so it won’t look distorted?
The auction will have the photos matted and framed and I have no clue what size to print.
Your resolution of 12x8 @ 300PPI can probably go as large as 18x12 @ 200PPI with no problem.
The folks at the auction should be able to tell you what size print they want.

Juergen

[Karin Sue]

It seems to me that Costco has the best prices for enlargements. You can do it online. I believe they have printer profiles on their website available to those who know how to use them. The site will also tell you how many pixels you need for the various sizes available.

Check with the person who will be doing the framing. Since it is a charity thing you probably want to go with a standard size as that is less expensive than custom.

I've heard that specialty camera shops, although they charge more, have people who know what they are doing and are willing to help you. Probably varies with each shop and who happens to be on duty.

You should make yourself a business card/about the artist card to stick with the photos.

[CarolLHB]

Charlotte-

Karin's given you great advice-I have recently begun printing 12x12 scrapbook pages at Costco and am generally very happy with them, except for the paper quality (which is where my savings must be). They use pretty crappy Fugi paper, but in a frame or scrapbook, this is ok. Costco only charges 2.99 for 12X12's. If you use Costco make sure that you tell them NOT to color correct, especially if you've post processed them.

On the other hand, I also had scrapbook pages printed at a lab-gorgeous color, tack sharp, beautiful, thick paper-and 15 bucks a piece. Cost prohibitive for scrapbooking, but I would (and have) pay that once or twice for special projects.

And oh yeah on the business card-you deserve the credit for both the work AND for your charitable contribution:)

Hope this helps-